What's next for Marshall Plan?

Sunday

Apr 7, 2013 at 12:01 AM

STOCKTON - A promise made in the 2011 State of the City address - Stockton needs "a Marshall Plan for crime" - has been kept. Last week, the City Council endorsed a 125-page violence-reduction strategy.

Scott Smith and Kevin Parrish

STOCKTON - A promise made in the 2011 State of the City address - Stockton needs "a Marshall Plan for crime" - has been kept. Last week, the City Council endorsed a 125-page violence-reduction strategy.

Since that speech two years ago by then-Mayor Ann Johnston, the city's violent crime rate has soared while its police force has been slashed. And Stockton has endured back-to-back years of record-breaking homicides.

Public safety more than any other issue is the dominant concern of the city's residents.

The Marshall Plan document calls for a two-pronged approach aimed at changing the climate of crime that City Manager Bob Deis describes as at least two generations in the making.

The plan calls for innovative programs that get at the root causes of violence and rebuilding the Stockton Police Department.

Its very scope and ambition threaten implementation. The city is in bankruptcy, Stockton's budget has been radically reduced and the Marshall Plan, in its complexity, requires collaboration from government programs outside Stockton's control.

"I understand that people just think this is too big, it's hopeless," Councilwoman Kathy Miller said. "We can't feel that way. If we give in to hopelessness, there will be no change - ever."

The plan also has become political. Mayor Anthony Silva voted to abstain. Critics complain that it took too long to create.

But the plan is moving forward following the council's action, and its committee of stakeholders will need to wrestle with how to make it more than a plan.

At least one council member recognizes that no plan can solve everything.

"This is a total city of Stockton problem," said Councilman Elbert Holman, who retired after 34 years in law enforcement. "It is all of our problem. We need a broad approach right now and the public has got to get engaged. We've got to work together."

On Tuesday night, the City Council voted to do just that. Following Deis' recommendation, the next steps will be:

» No 1. Community meetings to discuss ideas with residents, soliciting their input. Those district-by-district town halls are expected to begin soon.

» No 2. Financing in the next fiscal year to continue Project Ceasefire, one early component of the Marshall Plan, and committee discussions. Deis said $300,000 would be transferred from General Fund contingency.

» No 3. Later in the year, Deis said he would return to the council with a final recommendation, including a financing plan "in coordination with bankruptcy negotiations."

His report praised the Stockton Police Department for recent collaboration, reallocation and efficiency but said those efforts would be "difficult to sustain." The department has the lowest police officer-to-residents ratio for any city its size in the nation.

Key to Marshall Plan is its look at broader issues and contributing factors to Stockton's high crime rate: joblessness, the school dropout rate, poverty, foreclosures, economic decline, criminal lifestyles, homelessness and reductions in criminal-justice system capacity.

Among the committee's findings: "high violence is chronic in Stockton, but only recently accute."

2011

» No. 1: Second highest violent crime rate in California. The 10th most violent in the nation.

» 56: New record for homicides.

» Response: "We're at the top of lists that we don't want to be on," Police Chief Eric Jones said.

2012

» 71: Another record-breaking year for homicides.

» 400: Number of residents shot.

» 1,000: Number of firearms seized.

» Response: "We saw an increase in bold daytime shootings," Jones said. "And something I haven't seen in my two decades on the job was the comfort level of criminals carrying weapons."

» Project Ceasefire: This model is already in place in Stockton. Gang-involved suspects are "called in" to meet with law enforcement officials, community members and service providers. They are given a choice of putting down their weapons or facing the full weight of the law. Social services and employment assistance is offered. In 1997, the project was credited with a 42 percent drop in homicides. Project Ceasefire returned last year thanks to funding from San Joaquin County government.

» Quote: "Suspects are confronted by a clear message, the moral voice of the community, and an offer of help," according to Stockton Marshall Plan.

» Quote: "We want to get officers out of their cars," Jones said. "We need enough of them and the time to do that. The result is problem solving."

» "Hot spots" identified: City Hall has what it calls flexible models for dealing with specific, troubled intersections and neighborhoods. Plans call for community response teams, an expansion of Operation Peacekeepers (youth outreach workers trained in conflict resolution and mediation), a blight reduction unit and code-enforcement teams.

» System integrity: Secure funding for core programs such as pre-brooking alternatives and a full-service pre-trial plan.

» Restore Narcotics Unit: Proposal calls for the Police Department to once again have a dedicated staff devoted to criminally activity linked to illegal drugs.

» Quote: "I wish I could say Stockton doesn't have a drug problem," Jones said. "But I can't. We have been partnering with the Sheriff's Office on a drug unit."

» HOPE: Those on probation with serious convictions and at high risk for re-offending appear before a judge who clearly communicates the consequences of parole violations. The program is known as HOPE.